This Isn’t A Library: New, Notable Releases Into Comics’ Direct Market



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Here are the books that make an impression on me staring at this week's no-doubt largely accurate list of books shipping from Diamond Comic Distributors, Inc. to comic book and hobby shops across North America.

I might not buy all of the works listed here. I might not buy any. You never know. I'd sure look at the following, though.

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APR161577 BIRTH OF KITARO GN $12.95
This is a fantastic week for quality, translated manga -- a lot of weeks are, but this is a week that even appeals directly to someone as poorly read in that area of the comics shop as I am. This is the most interesting book to me of those offered, a reader-friendly presentation of material from the late Shigeru Mizuki most prominent creation. This material has a quality that if you're not immersed in the story you can sort of lean back and enjoy the lovely cartooning on-hand. But the whole package is worth it.

APR160061 HELLBOY IN HELL #10 $2.99
APR160074 BALTIMORE EMPTY GRAVES #3 $3.99
APR160276 SUPERMAN REBIRTH #1 $2.99
APR160284 BATMAN REBIRTH #1 $2.99
APR160677 CASANOVA ACEDIA #5 (MR) $3.99
MAR168905 CASANOVA ACEDIA #5 CVR B BA (MR) $3.99
APR160785 WALKING DEAD #155 (MR) $2.99
MAR160703 CIVIL WAR II #1 $5.99
APR161414 GIANT DAYS #15 $3.99
APR161356 STRANGE ATTRACTORS #1 (MR) $3.99
A reasonable amount of comic-book comics crash onto the stands this week, as the mainstream publishers kind of lead off with the big summer strategies. The first book you should buy of this type, though, is Mike Mignola's concluding issue of Hellboy In Hell. He's off to paint, and whatever that guy wants to do is okay with me. There's nothing quite like the ten issues of this series, as idiosyncratic and odd in its own way as something you'd find that's handmade in the oddest corner of the Fumetto festival. There's another effort right below in the bigger Mignola-oriented umbrella. Two of the DC property heavy-hitters launch their "Rebirth"-era series, if only that evil creation of Alan Moore's doesn't screw things up. I'm a great fan of the various Casanova series, which are odd and arch and curiously emotional in a way that triggers the 12-year-old reader in me even if he needs the older version of me to understand a few things presented to him. The best gift that success has given Walking Dead fans is a wonderful instability when it comes to tone, direction and even length of major storylines. I'm not sure any modern series is as free to lurch off in any direction and nearly any time. Civil War II is I think about fan-bros complaining that Captain Marvel doesn't deserve to be one of the major character, but screw them, I like that character. That dumb joke is my way of saying that none of the advertising and advance PR work got to me: no idea what they're fight about. Then you have some John Allison, which is excellent. And then you have a series I thought was the return of a hardcore indy favorite but is instead a series repackaged due to the higher profile enjoyed by its creators.

MAR160274 PREZ THE FIRST TEENAGE PRESIDENT TP $24.99
After my initial misapprehension that this was the recent series; Steve Flanagan and a few others wrote in to say that this is the old material, with a few add-ons. I like those comics. I think they're distressingly weird in the way that all the comics from 1970-on by older creators not Jack Kirby or Gil Kane were. They were almost always a bit off-putting, lounge singers singing rock songs. I'd want to look at this to get a peek at what they're adding to the originals to take this volume to that price point: I see the original comics themselves all the time at a fraction of this collective price. The new Prez stuff is available, too, and even though Steve says the subtitle of the first volume is "Corndog In Chief" I want to see what they've done with the character at some point: people liked those comics, and Ben Caldwell won a Silver Division Reuben for it.

FEB160447 INCREDIBLE HULK HERB TRIMPE MARVEL ARTIST SELECT HC PI
I will buy everything related to Herb Trimpe that comes out from now until the day I can no longer buy anything. He's the most fascinating of the second wave of Marvel Superhero Universe creators, with art that looks more like the kind of thing someone might do now than immediately after Jack Kirby left the company.

APR160583 WILD BLUE YONDER TP $19.99
APR160711 I HATE FAIRYLAND COLORING BOOK TP $12.99
These are a couple of books not for me, but I'd look at them if I saw them on the stands. Wild Blue Yonder is one of IDW's stable of high-concept adventure comics, and I almost never spend any time poring over those even though it's certainly something I adored as a kid. The coloring book stuff baffles me, but Skottie Young seems a good choice, as someone who draws in a way that invites color being added later. I mean, everyone does that, but some of these books I have no idea how the hell I'd color them and I'm betting Young's work suggest a variety of approaches.

DEC150876 SHANG-CHI MASTER OF KUNG FU OMNIBUS HC VOL 01 $125.00
Hello, gorgeous. I have all of Marvel's work with this character in beat up old-comic form, but it's nice that what needed to be cleared up has been cleared up so these fun and kind of modern-seeming (in a way) comics can have access to the shelves kept by grown-ups who can drop $125 on a comics volume.

APR161787 ANDRE THE GIANT GN CLOSER TO HEAVEN (MR) $12.99
I was familiar with Box Brown's treatment of the wrestler's life, but this one has also had its fair share of attention and praise.

MAR161077 JAMES JOYCE PORTRAIT OF DUBLINER GRAPHIC BIOGRAPHY $22.99
This was, I believe, an award winner in one of the regional European comics scenes. It's a subject of great interest, certainly sizable enough (and thus a bargain at the asking price) and something that would be interesting in comics form.

APR162115 MASTER KEATON GN VOL 07 URASAWA $19.99
APR162111 GOODNIGHT PUNPUN GN VOL 02 (MR) $24.99
APR162157 YOTSUBA & ! GN VOL 13 $13.00
APR162167 YOTSUBA & ! GN VOL 01 NEWER PTG $13.00
Urusawa, Asano and Azuma: all super-fun cartoonists, all working on projects close to the heart... or at least the successful path their careers have enjoyed. I'll soon own all of these except the Azuma reprint.

APR162222 HELLBOYS WORLD COMICS & MONSTERS ON MARGINS SC $26.95
Stanford's Scott Bukatman is kind of a writer's writer for those whose work on comics leans more into the academic side of things. It'd be a blast to read him at length on Mike Mignola's work, for sure.

MAR160970 TALK DIRTY TO ME GN $14.95
This is Luke Howard's book with AdHouse Books, a volume that enjoyed a sneak-launch at TCAF, I think. It's the story of one woman's employment at a sex line -- that's what they're called, right? The Internet and all of its porn has blasted this form of pornography right from my head. I like the visual approach, though; it looks like something that could have come from a pal of Herb Gardner's or something.

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The full list of this week's releases, including some titles with multiple cover variations and a long, impressive list of toys and other stuff that isn't comics, can be found here. Despite this official list there's no guarantee a comic will show up in the stores as promised, or in all of the stores as opposed to just a few. Also, stores choose what they carry and don't carry so your shop may not carry a specific publication. There are a lot of comics out there.

To find your local comic book store, check this list; and for one I can personally recommend because I've shopped there, albeit a while back, try this.

The above titles are listed with their Diamond order code in the first field, which may assist you in finding comics at your shop or having them order something for you they don't have in-stock. Ordering through a direct market shop can be a frustrating experience, so if you have a direct line to something -- you know another shop has it, you know a bookstore has it -- I'd urge you to consider all of your options.

If I failed to list your comic, that's because I hate you.

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